Reviews of Prog Rock, Classical Music, Art Rock and Jazz
Tuesday 7 April 2026 Band on the Wall, Manchester ★★★★★ Soft Machine launch their new album Thirteen and revisit some classics Soft Machine: John Etheridge, Theo Travis, Fred Baker, Asaf Sirkis Last time I saw Soft Machine's Theo Travis onstage was nearly a year ago, at a much larger venue, the London Palladium, guesting for …
***** Soft Machine return with a new line-up, and their thirteenth studio album, sixty years since the band was formed. The number thirteen is unlucky for some, but the latest version of Soft Machine obviously don't think so. In some cultures, the number is considered a symbol of change, regeneration or growth. Thirteen is the …
Friday 18 July 2025 Future Yard Birkenhead ***** Guthrie Govan Joins Shez Raja for Triumphant Birkenhead Show Shez Raja (and Chris Jerome, back left) This was a triumphant homecoming gig for bass player Shez Raja, returning to his native Birkenhead. Raja announced that he was born on the Wirral; it felt like a home audience …
The Cover of Spellbound by Shez Raja British-Asian bass player Shez Raja has been voted one of the ‘Hottest Bass Players in the World’ by readers of Bass Player magazine. His mother is Asian, and his father is English. He began playing the violin at nine years old, then replaced that instrument with the bass …
Continue reading "Off the Beaten Track # 15: Spellbound by Shez Raja – Album Review"
Inventive musical explorations and collaborations from a virtuosic duo and friends **** The cover of Perpetual Mutations. Image by Galina Timofeeva. Graphics by Antoine Fafard. In classical music, a concerto in which a soloist - such as a pianist or a violinist - performs with an orchestra, is a common form. Less common is the …
Continue reading "Perpetual Motions by Gavin Harrison and Antoine Fafard – Album Review"
***** New Prog supergroup bring joy in fragmented times Drummer Craig Blundell, keyboard player Adam Holzman and bass player Nick Beggs began playing together on Steven Wilson's Hand. Cannot. Erase tour in 2015. They also joined Steven on his To the Bone tour in 2018 and 2019. When Steven went off for a cup of …